Sherry Wang

In October, we announced our $1.8 billion Series C financing and take-private of SP+ (SP Plus). Today, I couldn’t be prouder to share that we have officially closed our transformational acquisition of SP+. This acquisition and Growth Buyout (GBO) is creating a paradigm shift in how technology companies scale and represents the largest venture-backed M&A deal and the third largest AI fundraise (just behind OpenAI) in the past year. We’ve created a once-in-a-generation opportunity -- allowing us to deploy our proprietary, artificial intelligence technology to more than 50 million consumers, across 4,000+ locations, and processing over $4 billion in payments a year -- enabling checkout-free experiences with a speed, ease, and convenience that is unparalleled, even online. While re-envisioning parking is our focus and priority today, the opportunities for growth beyond parking are limitless. In the future, we’ll use our artificial intelligence platform to power checkout-free transactions in new verticals – making the everyday experience of living, working and playing remarkable – giving us back our most valuable asset, time. From the outside, an entrepreneur’s journey can seem linear and academic – identify a problem, develop solutions, raise capital, deploy, scale – and repeat. In reality, it’s entropic and riddled with roadblocks. We’ve been repeatedly told our ambitions are impossible. But – our team comes back each day with strength, tenacity, determination and conviction. We’ve learned from every failure, every denial, every slammed door, and we’ve gotten stronger, smarter and faster. Today we closed our $1.8B financing and take-private of SP+ – creating a company that’s stronger together. The last six years have been a remarkable journey. I couldn’t be more thankful for our investors, advisors and most importantly, the entire Metropolis Technologies team that helped get us here. Special thanks to my co-founders and executive team Peter Fisher, Travis Kell, Courtney Fukuda, Ryan Hunt, Eddie Thomas and John-Paul Sukkar. I’d also like to thank the newest members of our executive team Chris Sherman, Ritu Vig, Kris Roy and Wenyu Blanchard. Our Series C was comprised of a best-in-class syndicate, led by Eldridge Industries with significant investment from BDT & MSD Partners’ affiliated credit funds, Vista Equity Partners, and Temasek as well as strong support from Metropolis’ existing shareholder group led by 3L. Thank you to all our exceptional partners, investors and advisors who thought outside the box and believed in our vision, every step of the way -- including Tony Minella, Todd Boehly and Lisa Ohlmeyer at Eldridge, Anton Zietsman and Dave Leyrer at 3L, Goldman Sachs and BDT & MSD Partners. We’ll celebrate today but know, we’re just getting started.

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On this episode of the Founders Forum, it's all about turning visions into victories! Co-Founder at Clozd, Spencer Dent, sits down with Blake Tengberg and dives into the journey of being a startup and how you can continue to scale to win. Watch the full episode: https://lnkd.in/gTudkqtE #BusinessTalk #IndustryPodcast #BusinessLeadership

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Check out three M13 portfolio companies currently hiring - Bento (gobento.com) & Lifeforce are making strides in the future of health, while the team at Rho is building the future of fintech. Scroll through to learn more about each and how you can fuel their missions 🚀 #hiring #brightertogether #m13 #bento #lifeforce

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While building infrastructure for Trust Wallet and Coinbase, we discovered something surprising: major crypto companies are running their treasuries through hardware wallets. CFOs personally approving every transaction. Founders losing nights to manual operations. We had a strong infrastructure business. But we saw a fundamental problem that needed solving. Read why we changed course: https://lnkd.in/gFXKvA79

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The most popular question among startup founders this week is 'Which Tech Week events are you going to?' I've done my homework: went through 450 events. Of course, I had some help from AI, but I double-checked everything myself. I’ve drawn some conclusions: who’s the most active, where the top tech minds will be, which funds and corporations have really put in the effort, and I even created a personal list of the most unique formats.* In the end, I came up with a schedule – the week kicks off with an ice plunge at 7 AM on Monday, followed by 3 events a day for the first 3 days (since I’ll get lazy after that), then 1 event per day, and saving the lightest and most fun formats for the weekend. Feel free to use, save, and share! 😉 *Last year, morning hikes were all the rage, this year it’s all about the Cold Plunge. Interesting!

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Rev Delivery Turns 1 Year Old… What's next? After graduating UCSB in 2023, I teamed up with Griffin Chen and Lucas Krall to co-found Rev Delivery—a technology enabled delivery service designed around college campuses.  This past September, we celebrated Rev’s 1-year anniversary. That same month, we hit another big milestone in our professional journey: the business acquisition of the Duffl brand, a Series A-funded and Y Combinator graduate with 8+ locations.  Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve been up to: - We moved to Seattle with the idea to start a hyperlocal delivery company serving the University of Washington community. ✈️ - Built our fulfillment technology. 👨‍💻 - Leased our first commercial space (in Bruce Lee’s old studio), purchased our first inventory, and started delivering orders to our customers in ten minutes or less, using electric scooters, for a delivery fee of $0.99. 🛴⚡️ - Lived in the back of our warehouse for months (ask about our homemade shower and kitchen setup). 😁 Since then: - We’ve scaled to tens of thousands of unique monthly orders and 100 employees by leveraging: ​ - Data-Driven Pricing and Products 📊 - Grassroots Marketing 🌱 - Student Culture 👥 - We acquired the Duffl brand – The OG of the hyperlocal delivery space with 19+ million in revenue under their belt. ✴️ So what’s next? It’s time to grow even more.  We’re enabling other entrepreneurs to open their own Duffl / Rev stores at college campuses.  If you (or any aspiring entrepreneur you know) want to explore owning your own 7-figure business, powered by our tech, data, and experience – then let's talk ⬇️ Calendly link: https://lnkd.in/gGHKsQFU https://duffl.com https://lnkd.in/gECwTJkx https://rev.delivery https://lnkd.in/gBWVQUDg

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In the past several months, I have been to more events than I can keep track of, but the Seed Stage Summit last Friday truly stands out. 🎯 Huge thanks to Andrew Yeung and Justin Wolz + Drew Parten for hosting such an incredible gathering of 200+ founders and investors from across the globe. 🌍 The highlight for me was listening to Alexa von Tobel from Inspired Capital. ⭐️ No pun intended, but listening to her share her experience about building a company and her insights around founders - the grit and commitment necessary to find success and live a life without regret - was truly inspiring. 🚀 My takeaways: When you're finally in the lane where you're doing what you're supposed to do, you come alive. I worked every minute, I slept thinking about it - and I was incredibly happy because I felt self-actualized. ✨ Find your true north: The hardest thing founders do is sign up for something that's not their life's work. She never considered quitting because she was solving a problem she deeply cared about. 🧭 Follow the data, but trust your vision: The best businesses are testing machines. Yet she also emphasized the importance of having conviction about how the world will unfold and building for that future. 📈 The regret machine is expensive: People always regret the things they don't do, not what they tried and failed at. 💭 It was incredible meeting so many founders building amazing things - this NYC startup community is truly special. 🗽✨ Tommy McNulty Brent Greenberg Surge Aravindan Rho Courtney Cardin Ruth Kresha Camilo Tobacia Ishita Jindal Korina Edwards Dima Syrotkin 🇺🇦 David Alson Colby Cox Ihar Mahaniok Anaid Chacón Rachel ten Brink Max Kolysh Aakash Shah Eve Halimi #startups #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #leadership #nyctech #inspiration 🚀

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Excited to host a 30-minute panel at Andreessen Horowitz Tech Week in SF on Wednesday, October 9. If you're a founder or sales leader at a high-growth startup who predominantly sells into the enterprise, you won't want to miss this discussion. Our expert panelists will share invaluable insights on: - Breaking through to key decision-makers - Structuring an efficient sales process - Proven techniques for closing high-value deals

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ICYMI: Ashby announced our Series C funding round this week. From The Wall Street Journal VC Pro:  “Ashby, a San Francisco-headquartered recruiting platform, landed $30 million in Series C funding led by Lachy Groom.” From Y Combinator: “Founded in 2018 by Benjamin Encz and co-founder Abhik Pramanik, Ashby provides a recruiting platform that scales hiring from startup to enterprise. The product serves as a foundation for workflows, powers AI functionality that improves efficiency and personalization and consolidates the full recruiter workflow into one system.” From Kyle Wiggers at TechCrunch:  “Since emerging from stealth in September 2022, Ashby’s customer base has grown to over 1,300 brands, including Quora, Ironclad, Vanta, Reddit, Inc. and Lemonade. Revenue is up 6x.” From Jay Farber of F-Prime Capital:  “This company has incredible ambition, and an insane quality and quantity of product releases to back it up. There is no doubt in my mind that this company will massively change the People function in the fullness of time. It’s no wonder they had multiple competitive term sheets — even during the hardest time to raise a growth round (or build a recruiting tech company!) in the last 15 years.” Links to full coverage in the comments.

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It was great hearing from Tony Xu, 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 & 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗼𝗳 DoorDash, speak at our weekly YC dinner. Here are my main takeaways: 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁: Tony shared a story where one of the restaurants they were onboarding was short-staffed because the salad chef didn't show up. He personally stepped in as the salad chef for the day, going above and beyond to help. This act built a lot of trust with the restaurant. 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁/𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: It was surprising to hear that Tony and his team still do deliveries personally at least once a quarter. They believe in staying connected with the customer experience. Check it out - https://lnkd.in/dan3RNXx 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗲𝘆: With four founders, they made sure each person had a specific area of responsibility. This clear division helped avoid disagreements and allowed each founder to execute their role effectively. 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿-𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹: Tony believes one reason for their success is that the founders deeply cared about solving the problem, which resulted in a great founder-market fit. #YC #entrepreneur #startups #founderlessons

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🚀 PSA: Calling all tech founders, builders, and developers! 🚀 We’re excited to announce our partnership with Tatu Collective for an upcoming hackathon! For Tonda Ventures, this initiative is a core part of our commitment to nurturing a thriving community of talent in the technology space. Our goal is to normalise excellence in the industry and teach the grit, among other inputs, that it takes to turn big dreams into reality. If we want to build a stronger, more productive, and resilient economy, we must invest in the systems that nurture the talent needed to make that vision a reality—it won’t happen on its own. So, we are calling all tech-founders, builders and developers, for whom the status quo, just won't cut it and are prepared to do the hard work of changing it, rather than escaping it. This is your chance to innovate, connect, and grow with like-minded changemakers. We can’t wait to meet you and see what we can create together! #Hackathon #TechTalent #BeExtraordinary #Tonda #TatuCollective

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Lofty is now live on Y Combinator's "Launch YC" website! When we were in YC's summer 2019 batch, there wasn't an official way to launch publicly like this. So, we're doing it now 5 years later! Learn more about how we're building the NASDAQ for real estate by letting anyone buy and sell fractional ownership in real estate properties in seconds for as low as $50 🏡 https://lnkd.in/gCgAsMZF

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🌟 Founders! How are you running your team? 🌟 I am transitioning away from my previous startup to working full-time on FinCastAI! I’m blessed to have worked with some talented pros over the years. Here is what I’ve learned about running a team! -> Focus on Results: Instead of obsessing over every detail, I focus on the end goal. I trust my team to get the job done without unnecessary interference. It's about empowering them to take ownership of their tasks and responsibilities. ->Trust and Transparency: I am transparent about the job expectations and responsibilities. Everyone knows what’s expected of them, and everyone knows what is expected of me. I trust them to deliver without being micromanaged. -> It’s a 2-way street: It is my responsibility to make sure my team has everything they need to get the job done. It’s my job to clear obstacles so they can perform. -> Respect and Autonomy: This isn’t kindergarten anymore. I treat everyone like an adult, with respect and trust. My team members are professionals, and they deserve to be treated as such. -> Get Sh*t Done: At the end of the day, it’s all about execution. Clear objectives, autonomy, and accountability are key. My team knows what needs to be done and has the freedom to do it in the best way they see fit. -> Hire Problem-Solvers: Make sure you hire people who can figure things out. The ability to navigate challenges independently is invaluable. It ensures the team can move forward without constant supervision and adapt to new situations effectively. -> Communication: Timely communication is key. Make sure your team knows that you are there to support them whenever they need it. Having spent a few years in the banking industry, one memory that stands out is how much I hated being micromanaged. My manager was constantly looking over my shoulder, and it felt annoying. Trust your team! Focus on results, and embrace flexibility. Leading is not hovering over your team but giving them the best environment to get sh*t done. Founders! I would love to learn how you run your team! Share your experiences in the comments below! 👇

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Category Spotlight Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap - Blend Updated monthly, our Category Reports offer a 30,000-ft. view of a given ETF category. Inside, you'll find at-a-glance visualizations of flows and category growth; structure breakdown of ETFs within the category; performance overview; risk relative to broad benchmarks and category averages; composition and fundamental analysis and much, much more. The category reports utilize ETF Action's proprietary ratings for efficient and effective analysis.   Highlights from May's Global Ex-U.S. Large Cap Blend Category Report: The Equity: Global ex-U.S. Large Cap - Blend category is comprised by 84 ETFs with $625.4 billion in assets under management Average expense ratio is 38 bps, average lifespan is 6.61 years, average ADV is $37.52 million, and average TTM yield is 2.15% The category gathered $4.20 billion in net inflows in May and has seen more than $23 billion in net inflows thus far in 2024 All ETFs in the category posted gains in May, average 1-month return was +4.43% The category has low stock concentration and the highest average sector exposures are to Financials (19.2%) and Industrials (16.9%) View the entire Category Report by clicking on the image below www.etfaction.com #etfs #mutualfunds # Financialadvisors

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Some of the most frequent questions we get from founders are around compensation in crypto. It’s a complex topic, but getting it right is crucial. I recently gave a talk that recaps some of our prior research at Dragonfly and adds new detail: https://lnkd.in/gYc5whwE ——— Here's what's covered: * WHAT'S EVERYONE ELSE DOING? . Offer components in crypto (incl stats and what's unique about tokens); . Token offer calculation methods and tradeoffs * UNBREAKING THE BANK . Nine approaches to conserving resources, incl research around cost-of-living adjustments, vesting schedules, and more * PAY AND PERFORMANCE REVIEWS . High-level structuring/impact & key takeaways * INDUSTRY TRENDS: WHAT'S TO COME? . Novel, early approaches unfolding in the space * Q&A . Including psychological impact of crypto market cycles ——— Clip below, full 30min talk here: https://lnkd.in/gYc5whwE Our next survey and its corresponding report will be dropping soon, providing compounding data and exploring new areas. We’d love your insights and contribution. Stay tuned!

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Today is an inflection point for Breakout with the announcement of our $4.5m venture growth round led by the experienced team at RockawayX with participation from Mechanism, Round13, CSquared, IOBC, and Mentat Group. Operationally, we’ve accomplished one of the hardest feats — going zero to one. We currently have over 5,000 traders that have collectively traded over $12B in notional volume and we’re growing exponentially. It’s now time to take things to the next level with a stacked treasury that we can leverage to improve our product even further and get Breakout into the hands of tens of thousands of new traders across the globe. I often get asked what it’s like to run a startup and many times I don’t even know where to begin. Startups are HARD. I won’t get into the minutiae but after 4 startups and 16 years, the biggest takeaway for me has been that in order to succeed, you have to mentally overcome the fact that successful startups need to fall forward and constantly navigate unique obstacles without allowing any one of those obstacles to paralyze the company. This is a constant battle that is unachievable without a resilient team that all share the same mindset and entrepreneurial drive. Our team at Breakout is the best I’ve ever been a part of and our growth in such a short period of time could not have been achieved so far without each and every person involved. You know who you are, thank you. We’re going to continue to push the envelope and will have some really exciting news to share in the coming weeks on the product front. Stay tuned. https://lnkd.in/ezPs8pdE

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Now on my fourth startup EnFi, Inc, I'm constantly humbled by how much I continue to learn from my team. Lately, they've been schooling me on the ins and outs of large language models (#LLMs) and the art of writing effective prompts. Their expertise (and thankfully patience) has opened my eyes to just how much there is to know. It's a good day when your team teaches you to speak fluent "AI" and shows you that prompts are more than just fancy questions—they're keys to unlocking potential. I love being a perpetual student, always learning from the incredible minds around me. Here’s to my team for keeping me on my toes and ahead of the curve. #StartupLife #Leadership #Startups #Teamwork #LifelongLearning #EnFi #PromptEngineering

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